Process of electric welding.



No. 858,507. v I PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

- w. M. FULTON & J. s. BROWN;

' PROCESS OF ELECTRIC WELDING.

APPLICATION FILED HAY 18,1906.

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No. 858,507. I PATBNTED JULY 2, 1907. W. M. FULTON & J. S. BROWN. ROOESS 0P ELECTRIC WELDING.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

anumglom I a Vihwoaza I CLJ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

WESTON FULTON AND JOHN '8. BROWN, OF KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNORS TO THE PU COMPANY, KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

PROCESS or nLEcTRrc WELDING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1907.

I Original application filed June 23,1904, Serial No. 213,864. Divided andthis application filed May 18, 1906. Serial No. 317,585.

.ing, and especially to electric welding of thin sheet metal.

In our application Serial No. 213,864, filed June 23, 1904, of which the present application is a division, we

7 have described and claimed apparatus for carrying out the process constituting the subject-matter of this application.

In electrically welding sheet metal it is'customary to lap the edges to be welded and pass them between two conducting rolls which constitute electrodes and to heat the lapped edges by a current of high amperage and low voltage. In the application of this method to thin sheet metal serious difliculties have heretofore been experienced in maintaining uniform heat at the point where the welding is being effected; This inability to properly control the heating effect at the junction of the'thin metal sheetsproduces irregular welding, even burning through the metal at some points, while at other points not enough heat is generated to cause the metal to weld. For these reasons electric metal, and as this scale collects, it forms a thin film or coating on the periphery of the rolls which offers a relatively high resistance to the electric current. Furthermore, this coating is of uneven thickness, and its resistance to the flow of current accordingly varies as successive points on the periphery of the rolls come into contact with the metal to be welded. While these inequalities may not be of material consequence in welding thick metal, they are of utmost consequence in welding very thin metal, as will be apparent from a closer consideration of the two cases. Suppose, for example, it is proposed to weld together the overlapping edges of sheets of No. 36 B & S gage Bessemer steel. This steel is .005 inch in thickness, which would give a total thickness of .01 inch at the-seams where the metal is lapped. Suppose that when the seams are first started through the rolls the resistance of the metal is .05 microhm and the resistance at the surfaces in contact is .15 microhm, making a total resistance between the rolls of 0.2 microhm. As the welding proceeds and the coating of scale accumulates upon the rolls, suppose the resistance at the surface of contact between the rolls and the metal to increase to .35 microlnn, theresistance of the metal remaining .05 as at -first.

between the rolls,just double the original total resistance. This would reduce the electric current 50 per cent, the voltage remaining constant. Next, consider the case of thicker metal. Suppose, for example, that it is proposed to weld together the overlapping edges of sheets of No. 2 B & S gage Bessemer steel. This metal is about fifty times as thick as No. 36 gage metal and consequently its resistance would be 2.5 microhms, on the supposition that No. 36 is .05 microhm. Let the resistance at the surfaces of contact be .15 microhm at the beginning of the weld, as in the case of the thin metal. This would give a total resistance of 2.05 microhms between the rolls. Now let the metal be drawn between the rolls, as before, and suppose, as in the case of the thin metal, the coating of scale on the surface of the rolls increases the resistance of the surface of contact to .35 microhms, the resistance of the thick metal remaining 2.5 microhms. This would give a resistance of 2.85 microhms between the rolls, an increase of only about 7 per cent over the original total resistance. This would reduce the current only 7 per cent, the voltage remaining constant. In other words, since the resistance offered to a given electric current by a thin piece of metal is less than that offered by a thicker piece of the same kindol metal, it is evident that any given variation in resistance, if produced in each case by the same cause, will produce a greater change in the electric current in the thin metal than in the thick. It is thus apparent from a mathematical standpoint that the thickness of the metal to be welded is an all important factor in the present process of electric welding, and we have found this distinction a vital one in actual practice. Recalling that, according to a well-known physical law, the heat produced by electricity'isdirectly proportional to the product of the resistance multiplied by the square of thecurrent, it necessarily follows from what has been said above that there must be marked variations in the heatdeveloped as the seam is drawn along between the rolls. In order, therefore, to effect the weld at all points along the seam, the voltage must be great enough to produce the requisite heat at the points of greatest resistance; hence, when points of least resistance are reached the heat becomes excessive. After a very slight film of scale has collected on the rolls this inequality in heat becomes so marked that holes are burned throughthe metal at some points, while at others it is not welded, thus rendering This would give a total resistance of 0.4 microhm the process worthless for welding thin metal. Furthermore, this irregular heat softens the rolls in spots and ve y soon causes them to wear unevenly at the periphery and destroys uniform contact with the metal.

Our object is to overcome the difficulties above referred to, and thereby successfully electricallyweld together all kinds of thin metal sheets, strips or edges.

To that end our invention consists, broadly stated, in effecting an approximately uniform resistance to the electric current between the electrodes by continuously removing the scale from the surface of the electrodes and dressing or polishing said surfaces to evenness so as to continuously preserve uniformity of contact with the metal to be welded.

The method involved may be carried out by various mechanical means, some of which are shown in the accompanying drawings, which are designed merely to assist in the description of the invention, and not as detrating a modification of the means for driving and adj usting the cleaning roll; Figs. 9 and 10 show in-elevation an end view of a further modification; Fig. 11 illustrates means for rotating the electrode and the cleaning roll; and Fig. 12 shows a stationary cleaning blade, instead of a cleaning roll. i

Referring to Figs. 1, 2,3, 4 and 5, electrodes -1, 2, of

suitable metal, such as copper, are revolubly supported .in forks 3, 4 of conducting arms 5, 6.

In juxtaposition to the electrodes 1, 2, we place suitable abrasion devices for removing the scale from the electrodes, which may be preferably supported in the sameforks 3, 4 as support the electrodes; said devices are preferably in the form of dressing or polishing rolls or brushes 7, made of any approved material which will remove scale and act to true or dressthe surface of the electrodes, such as carborundum wheels or stiff wire brushes. Rotary motion is imparted to rolls 7, 7 by means of a cord and pulley 8, 9. In order to adjust the polishing rolls 7, 7 to the electrodes, as they become abraded, the forks 3, 4 are provided with slots 10 and 11, Fig. 4, cut in their ends,

and prong 4 also has a slot 12, which forms an opening through which the spindle 13 of roll 7 projects. Roll 7 is mounted in an U-shapcd cross-head 14, which slides in slots 10 and 11. An end piece 15 is bolted to the ends of forks 3, 4 and-has passing through it a screw 16 which screws into the cross-head 14. The V-pulley 9 is fastened on the end of spindle 13, and a cord 8.drives the pulley from any convenient source of power. By means of screw 16 the pressure of polishing roll 7 upon welding roll 2 is regulated. While the metal to be welded is passed und or roll 2, roll 7 is driven at a high speed and dresses the surface of roll 2, keeping it bright and true.

Figs. (5, 7 and 8 illustrate a modified means for mounting and adjusting the polishingand cleaning roll 7' Two arms 17 are bolted to the prongs 4, 5 of conducting arm 6. A red l8 passes through their outer ends and upon one end of this rod is mounted a small pulley 9 fastened on the face of a gearwheel 19 free to turn on rod 18 as an axis. On rod 18, and between arms 17, is pivoted a pronged arm 20, which carries cleaning roll 7.

roll 7 meshes with gear wheel 19.

The small pinion 21 on oneend of the spindle-shaft of A flexible bar22 is bolted to the lower end of'arm and has a screw 23 passing through the opposite end, and the screw rests upon arm 17. By turning the screw the pressure of cleaning roll 7 against welding roll 2 is regulated. A cable 8 drives pulley 9, gear wheel 19, pinion21 and cleaning roll 7.

It is sometimes desirable to have the cleaning roll move back and forth across the face of the welding roll in a direction parallel to the axis of the roll while it is being cleaned. This may be accomplished as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10. The pinions 23 and 24 have the same number of teeth, while the gear wheel 25 has one more tooth than gear wheel 26. Pinion 23 is fast on the end of the spindle shaftof cleaning roll 7, while pinion 24 isloose thereon. These pinions have eccentric lugs, as shown. A spring'27 carries a center point 28 which presses against the end of the spindle shaft of cleaning roll 7 and continuously tends to press the roll to the right, as seen in Figs. 9 and 10. Gear wheels 25 and 26 and pulley 29 are fastened together, and turn on the end of a -rod 18, as explained in Figs. 6, 7 and 8.

Gear wheels 25 and 26 are driven by a cable which passes around pulley 29. Since wheel 25 has one more tooth than wheel 26, it is evident that for each complete revolution of these gear wheels pinion23 will turn further'than pinion 24 by one tooth. This causes the eccentric hubs of these pinions to slide upon each other, and alternately assume the positions indicated in Figs. 9 and 10, thereby carrying cleaning roll 7 to. the extreme right in Fig. 9, and to the extreme left in Fig. 10.

When it is desired to drive the welding roll, as well as the cleaning roll,,the'arrangement shown in Fig. 11 may be employed. As here illustrated, the shaft of the welding roll 2 is provided with a sprocket-wheel and communicates motion to the polishing roll 7 through a train of gears a, b, c, d, e.

In Fig. 12 a stationary abrasion device is illustrated for removing the scale, and said means consist of a tool 31, suitably mounted in a tool-post 32,pressed by a spring 33, which holds the tool to its work. The electrode 2 may then be driven by a worm 34 and wormgear,35.

In operation the thin sheet-metal, such as %36 B & S gage Bessemer-steel, is lapped at the edges, asv indicated in Fig. 1 at 36 and 37, and inserted between the electrodes 1 and 2, and then heated to a welding temperature by the passage of a-suitable current. While the metal is subjected to this .operation the cleaning and polishing rolls 7 are rotated while pressed against the electrodes. The rolls are.rotated at greater surface speed than the electrodes which are firmly pressed against the work. Fresh surfaces of the electrode are thus applied to the metal sheets and a uniform resistancesecured at the contact of the two surfaces, therebyproducing a uniform heating and effecting a perfectly welded union.

What is claimed is:

1. process of electric welding consisting in placing the surfaces of the metal to be welded in contact, passing an electric current from one or more continuously moving electrodes in contact with said parts through the metal to be welded, and maintaining the contact-surface of said vlvrtrodc or elm-trodes of approximately uniform cbnduc-' tivity by eivnninp; slicwss'ivn portions of said contact-surfawn nsin-turns during thr passage of! the electric cur runt, thou-by maintaining a uniform trmperature of the pnrls to he wuldud.

3.. A procuss 0t ulrctric welding cgnsisting in placing the surt'ncrs ot' the nmtnl in be \vrlth-(l in contact, passing an utvctric currvnt: from vlvutrodus in rontuct with said parts lhruugh the liilhll 10 he wuhh-dnnd nmintuining the contact-surface of said vlvutruduur LhlL'll'OilUS oil approxinnllvly uniform conductivity by cleaning said surface or 

